Category Archives: Releases

Coming to The WORLD Channel’s America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, November 17:
BLOOD MEMORY

Director:
Drew Nicholas

World Premiere:
Big Sky Doc 2019

Select Festivals:
Kansas, Minneapolis/St Paul, Santa Fe, California American Indian/Indigenous, Pine Ridge Indigenous

About:
An exploration of the painful legacy of forced family separation in Native American communities.

For 100 years, the US government sought to “kill the Indian and save the man” by sending Native youth to boarding schools where they were stripped of their culture, language, and family connections – and often suffered physical and emotional abuse. For part of this time period, another method to “assimilate” Native populations involved the removal of youth from their families for adoption by white families, further decimating familial and cultural bonds. In 1978, Native parents and allies attempted to bring this shameful practice to an end with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Director Drew Nicholas explores this issue through the affecting story of Sandy White Hawk, who has spent decades reckoning with the forced separation she endured and attempting to help others like herself find a way to re-establish connections with their family and community, through ritual and group healing. At the same time, the film looks at legal attempts to circumvent the ICWA in what many Native community leaders see as a flagrant attempt to keep a pipeline open for the lucrative adoption economy, no matter what ill affect it has on the children, their family, or their culture.

Coming to DVD/VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 17:
THE ORANGE YEARS

Director:
Scott Barber, Adam Sweeney

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018

About:
On the early years of the influential kids-focused TV network.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
YOU CAN’T DO THAT ON TELEVISION, CLARISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL, DOUBLE DARE, THE ADVENTURES OF PETE & PETE, DOUG, RUGRATS… If you recognize any of these titles, you probably grew up watching Nickelodeon, the cable-television network devoted to kids that launched almost 40 years ago. Beginning as a small local channel, visionary leadership led to its rapid growth into a global phenomenon. Scott Barber and Adam Sweeney’s film is a nostalgic and entertaining look back at the early years of the youth-oriented network that broke all the rules to let kids enjoy being kids.

Coming to Hulu today, Friday, November 13:
I AM GRETA

Director:
Nathan Grossman

World Premiere:
Venice 2020

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Toronto, Zurich, Hamburg, Cologne, Hamptons, Chicago, Montclair, Hawaii, Stockholm

About:
A portrait of Greta Thunberg’s meteoric one-year rise from high-school climate strike organizer to inspiration for a global movement.

The film is currently screening as part of DOC NYC’s Short List, for which our program notes read:
Greta Thunberg became famous for her viral videos confronting UN leaders over climate change. Swedish filmmaker Nathan Grossman offers a unique view of Greta’s personal history starting in August 2018 when she was 15 years old and scarcely known. As her notoriety rises, we watch Greta adapt to being both flattered and scorned by world leaders. The film culminates in a harrowing sailboat ride that Greta and her father Svante take over the Atlantic Ocean to attend two UN climate summits in September 2019. In I Am Greta, we bear witness to the emergence of a generational leader.

Coming to virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, November 13:
QUEEN OF HEARTS: AUDREY FLACK

Director:
Deborah Shaffer

Co-Director:
Rachel Reichman

World Premiere:
Film Columbia 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Docaviv, Full Frame, Ashland, Indie Grits, Hamptons Docfest, Sonoma

About:
A portrait of the pioneering artist.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Deborah Shaffer, with co-director Rachel Reichman, offers an intimate look at the life and creative process of visual artist Audrey Flack. Feminist, rebel, mother, sculptor, and teacher, Audrey’s often controversial 40-year career evolved from abstract expressionism in the 1950s to photorealism in the 1970s. One of the first women ever included in the famed Janson’s History of Art, Audrey, at 88, is still creating, exploring and inspiring with her unique style and indomitable spirit.

Coming to Apple TV+ this Friday, November 13:
FIREBALL: VISITORS FROM DARKER WORLDS

Director:
Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer

World Premiere:
Toronto 2020

Select Festivals:
Rome, AFI Fest, Hamptons, Montclair, Chicago

About:
An exploration of meteors and their impact – literal and figurative – on society.

Meteors have long been viewed as portents of extreme significance, making them a natural fit for Werner Herzog’s singular philosophical inquiries. In his latest film, co-directed with and starring his previous collaborator, volcanologist and University of Cambridge professor Clive Oppenheimer, the Bavarian auteur travels the globe – from Mexico to Mecca, Australia to Antarctica – to explore the scientific and spiritual sides of these astronomical phenomena. While Herzog stays offscreen, his memorable narration shines as always, and he leaves the on-air antics to Oppenheimer, a personable academic who mirrors the enthusiasm of his various interview subjects, from a papal astronomer and planetary defense researchers to Antarctic asteroid hunters and quasicrystal experts. While the film’s survey structure leads to a more cursory approach, its topics remain engaging and enjoyable.

Coming to HBO and HBO Max tomorrow, Thursday, November 12:
TRANSHOOD

Director:
Sharon Liese

World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2020

Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Frameline, Atlanta, Bentonville, St Louis

About:
A longitudinal portrait of trans youth in Kansas City.

Filming for five years, beginning in 2014, director Sharon Liese traces the lives of four young people, ranging in ages 4 to 15 at the start of the project, who – at least at some point during the film – identify as transgender. As that qualification suggests, for at least one subject, the youngest, Phoenix, their self-identification and gender expression changes dramatically by the end of the project, though even more surprising is their mother’s radical shift in attitudes. This change justifies the inclusion of Phoenix among the subjects, as prior to this, their relative youth made them the least developed of the protagonists, and also serves to parallel with the disastrous losses for trans rights that came with the 2016 presidential election. Of course, with all of the kids, their families are also central to Liese’s film, balancing loving and supporting their children with navigating societal pressure, and, in some cases, taking a stand for what’s right. But, in contrast to Phoenix, the remaining young subjects are far better able to articulate their experiences, both positive and negative, whether it’s Avery’s growing discomfort in being a preteen activist, Jay’s hesitation to out himself at school, or Leena’s relief at exploring gender reassignment surgery. While the film’s titular reference to BOYHOOD feels a bit of a stretch, its longitudinal approach effectively creates a level of intimacy that, one hopes, will create empathy even among audiences not already predisposed to supporting LGBTQ rights.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, November 10:
YOU’RE LOOKING AT ME LIKE I LIVE HERE AND I DON’T

Director:
Scott Kirschenbaum

World Premiere:
Camden 2011

About:
An intimate exploration of the life of a woman with Alzheimer’s.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD/VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 10:
OUR TIME MACHINE

Directors:
S Leo Chiang and Yang Sun

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, IDFA, CAAMFest, Palm Springs, Doc Edge, Guth Gafa, LA Asian Pacific, Salem, Indie Street

About:
An artist constructs an elaborate puppet play to explore his father’s fading memories.

I previously wrote about the doc here.